THE FIRST ENGLISH ELECTRIC TRAM

Evening Star, Issue 12885, 7 August 1906, Page 8

THE FIRST ENGLISH ELECTRIC TRAM

Mr John Burns, President of the Local Government Board, recently visited Brighton to open the new electrical station at Southwick, erected by the Brighton Corporation. Two characteristic ' speeches were delivered by him—full of force and excellent advice, and sparkling with witty asides, which kept his large audiences in the best of humor. The gem of the day wa<s contained in the sooond deliverance, in which he told, in his own inimitable way, the story of the first tram constructed to run in England. Before starting the turbines Mr Burnr said he understood that this institntioi like every other institution for the bent fit of the ratepayers and the benefactic °f. mankind, was opposed by a few. Th> critics asked : What about the rates and what about the future ? Of the value of such criticism he could give them one typical instance. It might not be known to many persons present that he was the first engineer in this country to make with his own hands the first electric tramcar in this country. That was in 1881, and the croakers were just as bad then as they were now. “ Electric tramway traction was then such a novelty,” he said, " that I had to take my governor’s dvnamb and tram down to the Crystal Palace and run the tram around the grounds for six months before neople could be induced to believe that electric traction was possible even as a toy experiment.- So nervous were •'•°onle that, although the charge was only 6d, we could not get people to go into the car at all. —(Laughter.) But hold men

are . not easily overcome by temporary difficulties like that, so I said to my sweetheart—now my wi fe—(applause) ; ‘ You have got to come down to the Palaoe three days a week and get into the first electric tramcar as a decov duck fot the others.’. That was only temporarily successful, and so I had to bring along the mother-in-law—(laughter) —and when s husband, a wife, and a mother-in-law cboperate in a matter success is assured. I merely point that to point the moral and; adorn the tale, which is that when-: ever .a new thing is introduced there are a. lot .of .old-fashioned people. who .know nothing about it who are always predicting its failure.”—(Ar-danse.) . The future had no fear for electric . light, _ electric power, or electric traction. In his judgment, it was better than -gas-for all thrbe purposes. From the point of view of commercial expansion -and industrial improvement, and from the point of* view of health.and domestic hvriene, there nothing to compare with electric lightWould anyone say that electric tramway traction was not superior to horse tramways or the motor bus? No one could doubt that it was. There was no reason why in the next ten or fifteen years this station should not be the centre from which the tramway system of Brighton, should be doubled, or even trebled and quadrupled, and why, as a result of cheap power, a number of small industries should not come into being in Brighton to be subsidiary to its dependence on its seaside -attractions. For fourteen years the electric-light, undertaking of Brighton had yielded a .sufficient, if small, profit, and- as to- • the future he would advise them to reduce their rate for lighting from .an average of 2£d down to 2d. The rate would, then be one of the cheapest' in the country, and the bread which they were casting upon the waters would return in a few days in the shape of increased consumption and consequently diminished cost I f production.—(Applause.)